Krishna

Hindu - Earth-god and preserver. An incarnation of Vishnu - the eighth. Son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Brother of Jara, some say. Husband of Rukmini, an incarnation of Lakshmi, and many others. Father of Samba and Charumati. Father of Bhadracharu and Pradyumna. By Rukmini. He was born from a black hair of Vishnu with a mission to destroy the evil tyrant Kansa. When Kansa ordered the slaughter of all new-born males, Krishna escaped by being secretly hidden with the cowherds, Nanda and Yasoda. He was constantly harried by demons sent by Kansa but overcame them all. He and his half-brother Balarama did battle with Kansa and killed not only him and his eight brothers but the huge wrestler Chanura, the demons Arishta and Keshin, the wind-demon Trinavarta, Sakta-Sura who tried to crush him, the demoness Putana who tried to poison him with milk from her breasts, the cow-demon Vatsasura, the huge raven Bakasura, Ugrasura the snake-demon who swallowed him whole, the demon Dhenuka as a huge donkey and Kuvalayapida, the elephant posted to kill them. He also subdued the snakedemon Kaliya. On one occasion, a firedemon started a forest fire that surrounded Krishna and some of his friends. The god merely swallowed the flames. Other demons killed by Krishna include Jarasandha, Kalayavana and Shankha-Sura. In the battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas he acted as charioteer to Prince Arjuna. When Indra sent a flood, Krishna used Mount Govardhana as a canopy to save the people and their cattle and he rescued his grandson, Aniruddha, when he was seized by the demon, Bana. He was said to have had affairs with, or married, over 16,000 women but his greatest love was the shepherdess Radha and, later, his wife Rukmini. Some of his other wives were Jambavati, Kalindi and Satyabhama. When he was accidentally wounded in the only vulnerable part of his body, his heel, by an arrow fired by his brother Jara the Hunter, he died and returned to heaven. He is sometimes envisaged as the personification of the universe with his navel encompassing the heavens in which his chest represents the stars. It is said that he had 16,000 wives. Also known as Krishna, Dark One, The, Dark One, The, Donn Dumhach, Hymir, Tawiscara, Kistna, Kistna, Krisna, Krisna, Kristna, Kristna, Krsna, Krsna, Punyasloka, Punyasloka, Bhagavan, Bhagavan, Avalokiteshvara, Bhagavad, Bhagavant, Bhagavat, Bhagavata, Bhagvan, Bhagwan, Buddha, Shiva, Damodara, Damodara, Dark One, Dark One, Gopal(a), Gopal(a), Gopinath, Gopinath, Govinda, Govinda, Vahguru, Hari Krishna, Hari Krishna, Kaliyadamana, Kaliyadamana, Kannan, Kannan, Kr(i)sna, Kr(i)sna, Madhava, Madhava, Marishiten, Marishiten, Mathuranath Narayana, Mathuranath Narayana, 'puller', 'puller', Vasudeva, Vasudeva, East Indies K(r)esna, East Indies K(r)esna, Greek Heracles, Greek Heracles, Arsaphes, Baal Tyre, Gisdhubar, Hereklo, Khons, Melkarth, Vahagn, Verethragna, Vritrahana, Malay Kesna, Malay Kesna, Tamil Mayon, Tamil Mayon, Jagannath, Jagannath, Jagadnatha, Jagan-natha, Jaggernaut, Jaggurnath, Juggernaut, Lord of the World or Vishnu.